Go in lower and harder - Louw

Ahead of their clash with Samoa, Francois Louw says the Boks' recent struggles at the breakdown can be fixed with a simple tweak.

Ahead of their clash with Samoa, Bok flank Francois Louw reckons his side's recent struggles at the breakdown can be put right with a simple tweak.

The openside was sorely missed in South Africa's 30-17 victory over Scotland in Nelspruit, where the Boks struggled particularly at the breakdown area.

Louw's absence was due to him getting married and the 28-year-old is straight back into the Test arena this week, with a message for his team.

"It is actually very simple, you have to go in lower and harder," the flank said ahead of Saturday.

"Scotland really did target the breakdown and that is definitely a trait of Northern Hemisphere sides."

On South Africa's public troubles at the breakdown, Louw added: "I think different refs interpret it differently and it is a difficult area to referee and to enforce the law because there are so many variables that go in there.

"It comes down to the simple fact that you've got to control the breakdown and, as a side, you have to go in hard, strong, with a good body position and provide quick ball and let the rest sort itself."

Despite being a disappointing showing against the Scots in Nelspruit, Louw believed the way the team had to grind out the victory would have been a good wake-up call.

"It was obviously not the game we were hoping to play as a side. We underperformed and we underachieved," he said.

"But a lesson well learned and sometimes you need these kinds of games to put things back into perspective."

Louw has not yet gone on his honeymoon and instead is in Pretoria with the Boks, something that he was in comical mood about.

"It is a great place for a honeymoon - the first training session quite literally took my breath away with the altitude," he quipped.

"I left last week Wednesday and I missed the second half of the week but coming back now, everything is just falling back into place.

"The environment the guys have created at the Springboks allows for something like that, and for you to slot back into your place within the squad and contribute as much as you can."